Ipsy January 2017 Review: Metropolis Glam

I hopped on the beauty subscription bandwagon and subscribed to Ipsy in May 2016. So far, I’ve been pretty pleased with each month’s sample selection. I started out as a beauty novice. I used the same eyeliner from middle school until I was 23. After seeing all the beautiful makeup on my co-workers and what people could achieve through YouTube, I figured the best way to test my knowledge was to subscribe to a beauty subscription.

The reason was pretty simple: For just $10, I could test out samples and determine whether I liked them or not. Let’s be honest; makeup isn’t cheap. Urban Decay Naked Palettes are $54, MAC lipsticks are nearly $20 a piece, and even “inexpensive” foundation found at Ulta or Sephora can be $50 or more. Yikes. For a novice, it’s pretty hard spending that amount of money to test out products.

Ipsy allows me to try top brands for just $10 per month. I can test eyebrow products, lipsticks, eyeshadows, and all sorts of products from brands I never knew existed. That can equate to major savings. You can also stock up on much-needed essentials like brushes and blenders.

Ipsy’s Service

I love Ipsy as a service, but I do have one complaint. I never get my emails that say when my bag has shipped. The only way I can tell whether it’s shipped or not is by going to the website and looking through “My Account.” While this may not be a big deal for most people, I’m an incredibly impatient person who loves to know when I’m going to get my new products.

However, the bag almost always comes in before the 20th of the month, which is great. I can get the products early, test them out, and then post reviews to the website for extra points. Reviewing the products helps Ipsy decide what to include in each bag (as well as what not to), so it’s curated just for you.

Unfortunately, I haven’t always felt like Ipsy hit the mark for me. Sometimes it’s my own fault because I forget to review a couple of products, but there’s no way to ask the company to stop sending a particular product. Eventually, the algorithm does catch on, but that’s only after you’ve received three bronzers and eyebrow gels that never see use.

In the end, it does have a lot of stuff I’ve grown to love, like brushes. I rarely get brushes in other beauty subscriptions, which is necessary for a beginner like myself. I had zero brushes starting out, and now I have five total for various uses. I love this aspect of Ipsy!

January 2017 Ipsy Glam Bag Products

This month’s theme was “Metropolis” to provide you with samples perfect for uptown, downtown, or wherever you go. In the Ipsy January 2017 bag, I received:

• NOTE Fragrances Pink Peony Eau de Parfum: approx. $7.14 value ($42 for full-size)
• SLMiss Glam Blend Beauty Brush L34: approx. $13 ($325 full brush set)
• ModelCo BLUSH Cheek Powder in Peach Bellini: $12 value ($26 for full-sized product)
• F.U.N Lacquer TGIF: $12 value (full-size product)
• Manna Kadar Cosmetics Fantasy 3-in-1 Eyeshadow: $23.14 (full-size product)

The products in this bag were pretty fabulous. I’ve received the Manna Kadar eyeshadow once before, and I’m pretty pleased to get more. It’s super pigmented and goes perfectly from day to night. While I’ve had other ModelCo products before in Birchbox, like the lip lacquer, I’ve never tried the blush. I was a lot happier with the blush than I was the lip lacquer, although all of ModelCo’s products are high quality.

The only thing I was disappointed about was the nail lacquer, and I wasn’t extremely disappointed with it. The color is absolutely beautiful, and after wearing it for four days without a top coat, it hasn’t chipped in the slightest. The only thing I don’t like about this is how many layers I had to use to get the pigment to come out. Still, I’m extremely satisfied with the products that came in this bag.

January 2017 Ipsy Glam Bag Value: $67.28

Just by glancing at the value of the products, you can easily tell that it’s worth a lot more than the $10 monthly subscription charge. With the exception of the perfume, every single one of these products is above $10, and we even got two full-sized products in this bag. Overall, the total value of this month’s bag comes in at $67.28.

This is one thing I’ve noticed about Ipsy since I’ve been subscribed to the service. I’ve never been disappointed at the value of the bag. While stacked up against other beauty boxes, I’ve found that Ipsy is worth more month over month, which keeps me happy and satisfied as a subscriber. Each month, I receive products that are far above the price I pay, which is why I remain subscribed.

Sign up for Ipsy here!